Alex Ferguson

Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson, CBE (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player who managed Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is regarded by many players, managers and analysts to be one of the greatest and most successful managers of all time.

Ferguson was appointed manager of Manchester United in November 1986. During his 26 years with Manchester United he won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two UEFA Champions League titles. He was knighted in the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours list, for his services to the game. Ferguson is the longest serving manager of Manchester United, having overtaken Sir Matt Busby's record on 19 December 2010. He retired from management at the end of the 2012–13 season, having won the Premier League in his final season.

Born to Alexander Beaton Ferguson, a plater's helper in the shipbuilding industry, and his wife, Elizabeth (née Hardie), Alex Chapman Ferguson was born at his grandmother's home on Shieldhall Road in Govan on 31 December 1941, but grew up in a tenement at 667 Govan Road (which has since been demolished), where he lived with his parents as well as his younger brother Martin.

Ferguson's playing career began as an amateur with Queen's Park, where he made his debut as a striker aged 16. He described his first match as a "nightmare", but scored Queen's Park's goal in a 2–1 defeat against Stranraer. Perhaps his most notable game for Queen's Park was the 7–1 defeat away to Queen of the South on Boxing Day 1959 when ex-England international Ivor Broadis scored four of the Queen of the South goals. Ferguson was the solitary Queen's Park goalscorer.